Past Exhibition

NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN looks to the lucky history of Ōtepoti; it’s development, accelerated through geographical luck with its proximity to goldfields; the merger of Hudson Bakery with English Chocolatier, Cadbury, to form Cadbury Hudson Fry, who’s regulatory luck propelled them to the top of the national food chain by circumventing import costs and local production (until recently); and finally, ELSIE, the random number generator, selecting winning numbers for Bonus Bonds, a government established lottery dressed up as savings scheme.

Raising concerns about aspirational materialism, the ebb and flow of protectionist policies, and casino capitalism, whereby speculation is preferred to entrepreneurial growth, NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN considers the roles luck and chance play in determining outcomes: career cut short by injury, scammed by a snake oil evangelist, job lost due to decisions made by the board, the inheritance of wealth, an enterprise liquidated, a market crash. Luck (or lack of) in all its guises: timing, location, birth, proximity, regulation, selection. New gold. Old gold. Fool’s gold. Invest now!